noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I also learned today that the massive Hall of Justice Building sits empty. I thought there was still activity in the building. Built in 1925,
the Hall of Justice was red tagged after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.



below: A haunting photograph of the sleeping behemoth.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/slh_pho...09/5147871790/

___

[unihikid]

I leave for a few days and wow! i lived down the street from the stadium thatre and ive always known it as a jewish temple,kinda close to it was a very nice gingerbread 2 story building that housed david pharmacy,i think it was on robertson.it got damaged real bad in the northridge quake and they tore it down.as far as the hall of justice,i was in downtown la 2 weeks ago and i saw heavy construction on the place,i read somewhere maybe ladowntownnew.com that they were restoring the building for mix use.
so yes it is empty but it wont be for long

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I also learned today that the massive Hall of Justice Building sits empty. I thought there was still some activity in the building. Built in 1925, the Hall of Justice was red tagged after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Today it is cleaned out and the famous courtrooms are gutted.



below: A haunting photograph of the sleeping behemoth.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/slh_pho...09/5147871790/

[FredH]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Bunker Hill serves as an unlikely backdrop for a 1965 fashion shoot:



[source: Los Angeles Times]

Just to add a couple notes to these photos:

The house in the left photo was located at 241 S. Bunker Hill Ave. The photo below from 1957 also shows the Earl-Cliff Hotel which had been next door:


LAPL

Behind the model, you can also see the DWP building and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.


The house in the right photo was the ill fated "Salt Box", located at 339 S. Bunker Hill Ave. The "Salt Box" was moved to Heritage Square
in 1969 and subsequently burned down by vandals.


LAPL


LAPL

Also, Bunker Hill Avenue no longer exists.

[FredH]

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;5656225]Here is an impressive photograph of the Hall of Justice I found while searching for the identity of the Central Junior High School (thx again G_W).



http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/

above: The sheer size of this building tells me that there must have been a light court in the center. Does anyone know?
I'm going to dig up some aerials and see what I can find out.

Ethereal_Reality:

You are correct about the light court:


Google Maps

By the way, they are actually restoring the place!

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_18679047?source=rss

[ethereal_reality]

Hey FredH, thanks for the aerial of the Hall of Justice. It looks like there are two light courts!
From the outside it looks like a massive solid cube. We often forget about the dynamics of a building, especially one that was built in 1925.

I'm so pleased that they are retrofitting the building.

___

[Mark L]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Bunker Hill serves as an unlikely backdrop for a 1965 fashion shoot:



[source: Los Angeles Times]

Wow. In the photo at left, I think they are pretty much in the middle of current day Disney Hall. (They may be a bit south) Whenever I go there, I imagine Bunker Hill Ave running thru the place.

[Mayor Shaw]

I've always liked the idea of the corner drugstore. The 1927 city directory lists over 590 such places in Los Angeles that year, not counting the large retail chains like Owl or the Court Drug Co. Here are four pharmacies that operated over the years, chosen because the buildings still exist although the last sodas have long since been jerked.

First is Mr. Alphonso Bley's store, located at 936 W. 23rd st. These black and whites were taken in 1895



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Mr.Bley with the stogies



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No soda fountain here, but it looks like he could fill any script you could bring in



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Bley lived here at 126 S. Westlake Ave.



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Alphonso's store today



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Next is Aquila's at 700 N. Broadway. He ran this as the Union bar before prohibition. According to the city directory, the family lived above the store. That's Joseph Aquila behind the soda counter.



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Aquil's today:



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Here is Nathan Simon's Sureway Pharmacy located at 8539 South Vermont



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Inside


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And Today:


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This last one is Sontag Drugs located at Whilshire and Cloverdale:


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Today:


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All B and W photo's LAPL. Color, Google maps

[Mayor Shaw]

Great photo's of the Hall of Justice. Lots of history took place in that building, I'm glad it's being saved. For all the drama that the building has witnessed over the years, it hasn't been without a few humorous moments.

One night in 1974 two inmates kicked off the lock on a door leading up to the roof. They found a roll of heavy electrical cord and used it to decend the side of the building. The problem was the cord only reached as far as the tenth floor ledge. They were discovered around 1 a.m. sitting on the ledge in about 14 inches of pigeon dung.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Of course the inmates probably didn't see the humor of it right away, if at all.
Photo LAPL

[ethereal_reality]

Wonderful posts Mayor Shaw! I love the drugstores. It's great that the buildings are still there....lots of history within those walls.
I'm out of town for a few days...see you all when I get back.

[fhammon]

Breaking the current lull in posts, I'd like to thank everybody here who has contributed to 'noirish Los Angeles'. There has never been anything exactly like it on the internet and for me it's as important and vital as it is enjoyable. A major contribution and salute to Los Angeles history.
I'm very appreciative for the dedication, time, energy, personal memories, obsessions and detective work that goes into making this happen. Rest assured that more people are following, learning and enjoying than are posting.

...and we ain't even done yet!

[unihikid]

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I hope i did it right,here is a photo of the bullocks wilshire lobby christmas 1945. I found it in my grandmothers things,she worked for Kate Winnet Candy,who's dad was one of the founders of Bullocks and whos husband became the president in the early 50s,if this works ill upload more on the Candy's


Photo by Me

[unihikid]

great it works! ok so here is Mrs Candy with the hat and my Grandmother at her "Beeach House" we have all the keys to the house still which im not sure where it is,or if the spelling is right.

[IMG][/IMG]

This photo is of Mr Winnet(her dad) and Mrs Candy,sometime after the sale of Bullocks to Federate
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and here is Granny and the butler.Her role was as the executive housekeeper,which meant she was in charge of the staff of 12 for the candys 3 houses,they had a house at 1111 san vincente bl in santa monica,a high rise on wilshire,and the beeach house.
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she was also in charge of going "shopping" with Mrs Candy,keeping Mrs Candy to 3 drinks a day,Vacationing with her...pretty much a paid friend.

photos by me

[unihikid]

Since im on a roll...not really norish but here is The Sheen family,my dad is the only boy singer(he later became a member of The Robins,The Coasters and was in the Phil Spector Group Bob B Soxx and the Blue Jeans),my aunts and lassie are with him too(1948).This was taken in front of the family house at 2642 Kenwood Ave,the Pontiac was grannys first car,she didnt know how to drive but the Candys paid well,so she and my aunt Dolores took the yellow line to Felix Motors,and she paid for the woody in cash and drove it back to the house,Granddad was a doctor so he only drove Cadillacs(in the second picture notice the plate topper with the MD logo)
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1947

photos by me

[unihikid]

ok honest last photos,but kenwood was such a great street,these are all from the late 40s.The Mills Brothers,Nat King Cole,and many other artist lived in the area and did alot of fundraising for my grandfather who was one of the few black doctors to own his own practice,dad did shows with Marylin McCoo when they were kids way before she joined the 5th Dimension.
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photos by me

[sopas ej]

Great posts the last few days!

unihikid, those are really great photos! Vintage photos are one thing, but personal family photos of life in Los Angeles are really very special. Thanks for sharing them!

[Steve Hoffman]

Yes, amazing stuff, thanks!

[FredH]

unihikid:

Wow! Great pictures, great stories, and great cars!

You must have been very proud of your grandfather, grandmother, and your dad. They all accomplished a great deal in very different fields.
I see your dad sang under the name Bobby Sheen. Great career. Here is a website which lists his professional history. Sorry to see he died so young.

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Bobby%20Sheen.html


And check out this youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLYSdxibf6Y


By the way, your old house on Kenwood still looks pretty good.


Google Street View

[Handsome Stranger]

Mayor Shaw, I greatly enjoyed your corner drugstore photos, especially Sontag Drugs. I pass by that building daily and enjoy the fact that a little art deco architecture survives at the east end of the Miracle Mile. I've long been baffled by the large empty recessed area at the front; now I know it was designed to showcase a large sign.

I also want to say kudos to unihikid for your posts! We don't often see personal family photos showcasing vintage Los Angeles here, and I'm always grateful when they do show up. I think they bring Los Angeles history alive in a very immediate and satisfying way. Thanks for sharing them with us.

[unihikid]

Thanks everyone, dad was a great guy and we miss him.Here is a dinner at cliftons,im pretty sure its the one on broadway,this looks to be around 1947
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[austlar1]

Unihikid, you are posting some great pictures. Please keep it coming. Thanks.